This invention relates to the electronic distribution of data across the Internet, and more specifically to the electronic distribution of business card information.
The success of an organization can partially hinge upon the creation of a wide network of business contacts. Knowing where to find information and who to call upon for that information is vital. At present, this process is for the most part facilitated via a paper-based system. Business cards, containing contact information such as the name, job title, address and telephone number, provide the most commonplace means of exchanging useful follow-up details. This method, however, is not ideal since it has a number of problems associated with
The high rate at which business cards are exchanged can result in a person accumulating an excessive number of cards and to organize the cards into a useful format can become extremely labor intensive.
Furthermore an individual is required to carry a sufficient number of business cards for exchanging and needs to estimate the number of cards necessary. He must also remember to carry them and store them somewhere on his person.
Moreover a restriction is placed on the amount of information that can be included on business card.
Another disadvantage is that a change in business details can result in cards being wasted and new ones having to be printed.
Yet another occurs upon exhaustion of the current supply, a new set has to be printed which will incur cost, take time and be inconvenient.
There have been a number of attempts to overcome the problems above. Most of these have involved the conversion of paper-based business card details into a more useful electronic format. Some examples are given below.
Using Card Image Scanners ordinary business cards are collected and scanned as images and then subject to text recognition before being inserted into a database. The process is manually intensive, error-prone and information is limited to what can sensibly be included on a physical business card. A variation is where the scanner is carried into the field, attached to a PC or PDA. This can be even more manually intensive.
E-mail business cards are already in use, for example the xe2x80x9cvCardxe2x80x9d is one well-know format described in a white paper xe2x80x98vCard: The Electronic Business Cardxe2x80x99. These data files are automatically attached to your outgoing e-mails but one needs to know the e-mail address of the recipient (usually from a paper business card!) before you can send him/her your vCard. Again this is manually intensive and also requires business cards (or at least e-mail addresses) to be carried.
Multi-application smart cards are now coming into general use. These usually contain identification material, including cryptographic keys. Such cards can be used to carry a business card applet. However all known existing applications require a GUI and/or manual activity to power up a PC and/or interaction with an application. None of them currently uses e-mail, or automatic generation of nail, or a low-cost embedded Java device. For instance,  greater than How to write OpenCard services for Java Card applets=by Thomas Schaeck with Rinaldo Di Giorgio describes an application that allows business card information to be stored, edited and exchanged between smart cards.
All the above approaches require user interaction in some way to facilitate the exchange of information. An exchange of card details from two cards requires interaction from two users. An exchange of card details for more than two cards requires multiple user interaction. This can be inconvenient, especially for more than two exchanges and leaves room for user error.
In one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of distributing smart card information comprising the steps of: acquiring electronic information from a first smart card; acquiring an electronic address from a second smart card; and sending the information from the first smart card to the electronic address of the second card. This allows electronic information from one smart card to be sent to the electronic address contained on another smart card without the electronic address of the second smart card being manually entered by the card carrier.
This invention provides a low-cost low-effort solution by combining Smart Card technology, embedded systems and standard e-mail. The individual""s personal details are carried in an applet on a smart card device such as a Java Ring (TM) or IButton or traditional Smart Card. Low-cost, network-attached readers are provided in locations where business cards are normally exchanged. The act of inserting two Smart Card devices into the reader automatically starts up an application which reads the details (including the electronic addresses) from the two cards. The application then e-mails the business card details of one participant to the e-mail address of the other, and vice versa. Optionally, a mail agent at the recipient""s mail server automatically files the business card details in the correct place. Alternatively the recipient can file the e-mail in a special business contacts folder manually when next accessing his/her e-mail.
Advantageously the method also comprises the steps of: acquiring a further electronic address from the first card and acquiring further electronic information from the second card and sending the further business information to the further electronic address. In this way an exchange of electronic information is enabled between two smart card carriers without manual entry of the electronic addresses. This is particularly useful for business information of the type carried on a paper business card which may be stored in electronic form on the smart card.
The information and e-mail locations from the first and second smart cards may be acquired, on insertion of the first smart card into a first smart card reader and on insertion of the second smart card into a second smart card reader, by reading substantially simultaneously the first and second smart cards. This allows a positive indication of which smart cards to exchange electronic information on.
Most advantageously the method comprises the step of acquiring yet a further electronic address and yet further business information from a third smart card and sending the yet further business information to the electronic address of the first and second smart cards and sending the business information of the first and second smart cards to the electronic address of the third smart card. In this way an exchange of business information between three parties is enabled without manual entry of the electronic addresses. This method may also be extended to more than three parties.
The information and e-mail locations may be acquired, on insertion of the first smart card into a smart card reader, by reading the first smart card, and on removal of the first smart card and insertion of the second smart card into the same smart card reader, by reading the second smart card. This allows minimum apparatus requirements to be used for the invention through the use of a single smart card reader. The reading of the first smart card and subsequent reading of the second smart card may be done within a defined time period. The time period may be indicated by a visual or audible signal. The method may further acquire further electronic information and electronic address from a further smart card for exchange of information between multiple parties by removing the previous smart card and inserting the further smart card into the same card reader. The further smart card should be inserted within the defined time period.
A further aspect of the invention provides a method of distributing smart card information comprising the steps of: acquiring information from a first smart card; characterized by sending the information from the first smart card to an electronic address acquired from a second smart card.
Yet a further aspect of the invention provides apparatus for distributing smart card information comprising: means for acquiring electronic information from a first smart card; means for acquiring an electronic address from a second smart card; and means for sending the information from the first smart card to the electronic address of the second card.
A further aspect of the invention provides a computer program product recorded on a medium for carrying out a method of distributing smart card information comprising the steps of: acquiring electronic information from a first smart card; acquiring an electronic address from a second smart card; and sending the information from the first smart card to the electronic address of the second card.
Another aspect of the invention provides a means for transferring personal data electronically comprising: identifying the information to be transferred; selecting the application capable of performing this action; sending the data to the destinations specified; and filing it away in a suitable place and format.
In this way a large amount of bulky data is not accumulated daily. It is only necessary to carry ones own details around and only one copy at that. Information is less likely to become unruly, since it is stored electronically.
The personal data comprises business card details and is encoded using Smart Card technology. The application capable of accessing the information contained within is a Java Card Applet, which constructs two standard electronic address messages containing this information and forwards them to the addresses cited. The notes can then be suitably filed.